Mt. Vernon celebrates after defeating New Palestine 83-68 for the Class 4A Sectional 9 championship at Greenfield-Central High School on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Tom Russo/Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — With seconds remaining on the clock, Mt. Vernon head coach Ben Rhoades made certain to personally congratulate every one of his Marauder starters as he pulled them off the court during the Class 4A Sectional 9 title game on Saturday night.
First was senior Armon Jarrard, followed by senior Avery Williams Jr, then senior Cooper Galli and finally senior star Amhad Jarrard, who bee lined in for a big hug with his coach.
Predicted to win. Favored to move on. The 4A No. 7 Marauders still had to get the job done, and inside Greenfield-Central’s Dellen Automotive Gymnasium, they achieved exactly what they set out to accomplish a year ago.
“I said last year, ‘We’d be back,’ so I’m hungry. I’m ready for (regional),” Amhad Jarrard said after the Marauders upended Hancock County rival New Palestine, 83-68, for the Sectional 9 championship. “This means a lot, but we just have to keep going. Coach has been telling us every day, just one game at a time, so that’s what we have to keep doing.”
One has turned into two and since Jan. 4, it’s amounted to 16 straight wins to reach the 4A state tounament’s top-16, culminating with the first postseason step — a sectional repeat and a third title in five years.
At 13-0 prior to the sectional tournament’s start, the Marauders (22-2) had to overcome three postseason opponents seeking revenge, and unselfishly, they cleared them all.
In the quarterfinals, they bested Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Pendleton Heights, 86-74, a team they beat 68-48 on Dec. 10, during the regular season. Next came their biggest challenge, No. 10 Anderson, who they eliminated, 82-76, in front of a near capacity crowd during Friday night’s semifinal.
For their sectional finale, the Marauders’ past fueled their present, and it led to the program’s sixth 80-plus point game performance this season to sweep the season series against New Palestine (19-7).
“That’s a testament to the maturity of our group. Having eight seniors this year. Most of them played a very integral part to what we did last year also, and that really helped us,” Rhoades said. “At the end of the third quarter, I could hear them in the huddle. They just kept saying, ‘Eight more minutes. Eight more minutes.’ They know what it takes. You have to play a complete game. Four quarters. I couldn’t be more happy and more proud for our whole program, especially those seniors. Two years in a row.”
Last year’s sectional title run marked the program’s first since 2018. In 2020 and 2021, New Palestine went back-to-back to keep the championship in the HHC.
Mt. Vernon wanted to maintain the trend but for different reasons other than mere conference bragging rights over their North Central Conference sectional foes.
“Last year, we won it and we got to regional, but we felt like we could have advanced farther in the regional and farther in the state tournament. This year, we had our whole team back, so we’re just trying to make a run and hopefully get a state for basketball, too,” said Williams Jr., who won a 4A football state title with Mt. Vernon this past November.
In 2020-21, the Marauders defeated Anderson in the sectional finals, 82-76, to breakthrough, but their pursuit for the program’s first regional championship since 2013 in 3A was halted by Plainfield, 61-52, during the Southport Regional semifinals.
That loss, just their third in 25 games, has sharpened the Marauders’ focus on achieving what most don’t believe is possible.
“We’re trying to proof a point to everybody,” Mt. Vernon senior Ray Wells said. “I know going back to (regional) is going to be hard, but we’re going to go in and keep playing hard. Last year when we lost in the regional, we said, ‘We’d be back.’ We worked hard at practice, and we’re staying true to the team right now. We have people coming off the bench playing well right now. We’re just having fun.”
Against the Dragons, the Marauders utilized their strengths with five players reaching double digits to build an early double-figure lead by the second quarter that grew to 15 points by the fourth.
Armon Jarrard, who put up a game-high 29 points against Anderson in the semifinals, struck again. This time pouring in a game-high 26 points with five assists and four 3-pointers. The IUPUI commit exceeded his season average of 16.0 points per game with 14 in the first half and 10 of 15 shooting overall.
“He’s always had it in him, and I think, right now, he’s just playing with a lot of confidence. He takes some shots he probably wouldn’t have taken a year or two ago because I don’t know if he was confident enough to know if he was going to make them. Now, I think he thinks the basket is about three basketballs wide,” Rhoades said.
“What (these players) really are is resilient. They’re really locked into what we’re trying to do right now as a group. They don’t want it to end. Now, that we’ve won quite a few in a row, I hear that talk in the locker room. It’s confidence. It’s not being conceited by what they’re doing. They’re confident and they really believe in what they’re trying to accomplish, which is win every game right now.”
Marauders win their sweet 16th (consecutive) to repeat as 4A Sectional 9 champions. Third 4A sectional title in five years and 15th overall. MV moves to 22-2 with Ben Davis (21-6) ahead at Southport Regional on Saturday, March 12 @GDRsports @mvmarauders pic.twitter.com/n7E6o3TO67
— Rich Torres (@RichTorres23) March 6, 2022
Galli did his part with 10 points, converting 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch in the fourth quarter, as New Palestine chipped away at their deficit to bring the margin within eight points with a little more than a minute remaining.
Wells scored nine of his 15 points in the second half and secured a team-high seven rebounds, including four off the defensive glass. Amhad Jarrard had 13 points with 11 falling through the net in the second half. Williams Jr., who has emerged as a defensive stopper, added 10 points with four in the fourth quarter, as Mt. Vernon orchestrated a 7-0 run to take a comfortable 66-51 advantage with 4:04 left to play.
“I’m locked in. I’m just trying to do what I can for the team. I know the (Jarrard) twins are going to do their thing. They’re going to score. Ray is going to do his thing, so I’m just trying to contribute. Do my part, play defense and hit some 3s. Hit some open shots and try to create for everybody else,” Williams Jr. said.
“(Sectional) was a grind. The Anderson game was crazy. They’re a top-ranked team. It was tough. We know most of these players from AAU, so playing against them is always physical and competitive. They’re a tough team, both of them, but we had to change a few things and go after it.”
The game plan might have been tweaked over the past month-plus since Mt. Vernon’s 87-78 loss at 4A Westfield — the Marauders’ last setback — but one aspect hasn’t been altered.
The Marauders want more.
“That was something they talked about the day we lost (to Plainfield at regional). Getting back to the regional. But, I don’t think they’re just going to be content with just getting back. They don’t want to just go. They’re going to compete. I know we’ll put our best foot forward, and we have a great group of leaders and players who are trying to do the right thing for the right reason. They’re trying to do it the right way, and I couldn’t be happier for them,” Rhoades said.
The Marauders will draw No. 5 Ben Davis (21-6) in the opening round of the Southport Regional this Saturday at 10 a.m. No. 8 Cathedral (22-6) and No. 15 Terre Haute North (23-4) will play in the other regional semifinal at noon with the title game set for 8 p.m.
In preparation for the what’s to come, the Marauders showcased their capability behind a crucial 8-0 run against New Palestine in the second quarter to take a 24-14 lead they never relinquished as the margin swelled to 12 points behind a 7-2 run before halftime.
A coast-to-coast dunk by Amhad Jarrard in the first quarter set the tone, and an alley-oop from Armon Jarrard to Galli for a touch dunk less than a minute later emphasized their intent. The exclamation point was hammered home by Amhad Jarrard in the third quarter with a steal and dunk to give Mt. Vernon a 46-34 lead.
Finishing 6 of 17 from 3-point range, the Marauders attacked inside and out, saving their best for last with a 29-point fourth quarter.
“It was tough (repeating). Anderson is a tough team. Both of these teams were tough, but we just have to keep our heads and play our game,” Amhad Jarrard said.
They proved they could by overcoming large crowds, rivals and teams built to derail them such as Anderson and their star Chicago Proviso East transfer Sean Paige, a 6-foot-8 prospect, that posted 26 points and 10 rebounds in a back-and-forth semifinal battle.
“That was a tough game, but we fought through it. We came back (tonight), and we were ready. We were focused. We knew what was coming. We knew it was going to be close, so we made sure to come out, play hard and got the win,” Wells said. “Armon always shows out. He’s good. He has the shot. Him and his brother, they’re both real good. They pass. They score. They do everything.”
They’ve won two sectional titles in a row, and they are now three more steps from potentially realizing what no other Mt. Vernon team has done in the past — competing in the a state title game.
“This one feels really good. We’ve been working hard all season for this. It feels great to get it done,” Armon Jarrard said. “Everybody underrated us, I think. We’re just trying to show them that we can play, too.”
They’re leaving behind a legacy in the process with consecutive 11-win seasons in 2019 and 2020 to 17 in 2021 and now 22 and counting in Rhoades’ fourth season at the helm. The program’s best win total in recent years was 24-2 in 2012-13 when Mt. Vernon reached the 3A semistate, winning 17 straight that year. Mt. Vernon won 18 consecutive in 2009-10 before falling in the regional final.
“We have all things younger players watching and seeing what’s happening. They all want pieces of the net, and I think that’s a great testament to what our community thinks about sports and the buy-in for everybody in the program,” Rhoades said.
Mt. Vernon 83, New Palestine 68
Mt. Vernon;16;18;20;29; —;83
New Palestine;14;11;22;21; —;68
MT. VERNON (22-2): Avery Williams Jr. 3 3-3 10, Armon Jarrard 10 2-4 26, Cooper Galli 2 6-7 10, Amhad Jarrard 6 1-2 13, Ray Wells 5 5-6 15, Eli Bridenthal 2 2-2 7, Darren Smith 0 0-0 0, Gavin Sullivan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 29 19-24 83.
NEW PALESTINE (19-7): Ian Stephens 4 3-4 11, Bryant Nunnally 0 0-0 0, Blaine Nunnally 6 10-11 23, Steele Brasfield 8 1-3 21, Ben Slagley 6 1-1 13, Damon Hockett 0 0-0 0, Eian Roudebush 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 15-19 68.
3-point field goals: Mt. Vernon 6 (Williams 1, Ar. Jarrard 4, Bridenthal 1), New Palestine 5 (Blaine Nunnally 1, Brasfield 4).
